Ditching-machine.



2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

H. L. AUGER.

DITCHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY I, 1914.

LIMm. Patented May 30,1916.

0A I .0 Nm? Mm\ L I f H. L. AUSER.

DITCHlNG MACHINE. :L1 .9913' I APPLjcATloN FILED MAY l. 1914. PatentedMay 30,1916.

.2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. K

v INVENTQR WI'TNESSES ,N fZLfIl/fger HENRY LEMATRE AUGER, OF MONTREAL,QUEBEC, CANADA.

DITCHINGr-MACHINE.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented May 39, 1916.

4Application filed May 1, 1914. Serial No. 835,633.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY LEMATRE AUGER, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, and resident of 384 Ontario street, in the city of Montreal, inthe Province of Quebec, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Ditching-Machines; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same.

rI he invention relates to a ditching machine and the object is todevise a machine of this character simple in construction, easilyoperable, eliicient and durable.

In the machine according to the invention a plowing shoe is arranged atthe front end of a trough shaped guide along which the earth isconducted to a vertically arranged spiral lift conveyer which depositsthe earth onto a surrounding table from whence it is scraped throughside openings in the table and dumped on opposite sides of the machineto form a bank on each side of the ditch.

The preferred form of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section through the machineand Fig. 2 a plan view. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional View through thelower part of the screw on lines A-B in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings the numeral 1 indicates the plowing shoepreferably V- shaped and secured to or forming part of the front end ofa trough shaped upwardly inclined guide 2 closed at its rear end whichforms a receiver and which together with its upward tubular extension 3,serves as a conveyer tube in which is disposed the vertical spiral liftconveyer 4. I

The conveyer 4 extends for a distance out of the tube 3 and is providedwith opposite stub shafts 5 and 6 the latter being journaled in andextending through the bottom of the guide 2.

7 indicates a trough-shaped circular table, concentric with the tube 3and supported from the upper end thereof and having the opposite outlets8 and 9 at the sides. The earth carried up by the rotating conveyer 1from the receiver end of the trough 2 falls out of the top open end ofthe tube 3, onto the table 7 and is scraped from the trough thereoftoward the outlets 8 and 9 by Scrapers 10 (say four in number) shaped toit the trough of the table and supported by arms 11 from the stub shaft5 to rotate with the conveyer 1. Rollers 12 carried by the Scrapers 10preferably engage the outer edge of the table to secure easy running,and the earth which falls through the outlets 8 and 9 forms a bank oneach side of the ditch cut by the shoe 1 in the forward movement of themachine.

The rear end of the machine is supported on wheels 13 rigid with an axle14 journaled in brackets 15 from the under side of the trough 2, thesaid axle having a bevel gear 16 fxedly mounted thereon and engaging abevel gear 16:L rigidly mounted on the lower end of the stub shaft 6whereby rotation is imparted to the conveyer 4: from the rolling of thewheels 13 in contact with the ground.

The front end of the machine is supported on a regulating roller 17rotatably mounted at the lower end of a vertical arm 18 which isadjustable longitudinally in a sleeve 19 supported by the draft pole 20,the latter being connected at its rear end 21 to the trough 2. Adetachable pin 22 engages holes in the sleeve 19 and arm 18 to fix theheight of the roller 17. It will thus be seen that the depth of cut madeby the shoe 1 will be according to the height of the said roller 17which rolls on the ground in front of said shoe.

A pair of handles 23 extend rigidly from the rear end of the trough 2which may be held by the operator for guiding purposes.

24 is a small roller rotatably mounted in a bracket 25 which is slidablymounted on a pair of parallel guide rods 26, secured to the underside ofthe trough 2. These rods extend through longitudinal bores in thebracket, as shown in Fig. 1. To the bracket 25 is connected a flexiblerod 27 leading to a point on one of the handles within reach of theoperator. The purpose of this roller is to support the front end of themachine when not in use and it will be seen that when the bracket 25 ispushed to the forward end, the shoe 1 and roller 17 are lifted out ofcontact with the ground and when the said bracket is drawn along theguideways 26 by pulling on the rod 27, the said roller 21 will be liftedup along the inclined trough to a non-operative position.

Colters or knives 28, 29 and 30 are preferably supported at the frontend of the trough 2 adjacent to the shoe in order to cut'the sod, theformer being supported by the draft pole in a position adjacent t0 the-trough 2 Without jamming. Further, there n is a pair of knivesBlfsupported vertically Vby the lower endl of the `conveyer el to slicethe sods into smaller pieces as they'enter the rear end of the trough.2.

Knives 3l, as shown in F ig. l are arranged 4parallel `with the axis andt-he outer edge. '.They extend( from the lower tothe upper Wall of thefirst or bottom spiral. One only-of the tWo'l-nives is shown in Fig. l.The other is identically the same .and diametrically opposite-therefore,not visible.

It is .thought that the operation of theinyention will be clearlyunderstood by the foregoing description, butit must [be understood thatsuch modifications .as found desirabie may be made in the .constructionof the machine, 'so long as they come Within the scope of the following-What I claim is l.v a ditching machine, an upwvardlyeinclined troughshaped guide having a digging shoe at the front ,end -a-nd closed at itsrear claims 4for novelty. y

end,v draft means .extending forward-ly from Copies ofthis vpatient mayberobtained for ive .cents each, by addressing the said guide, colterssuitably arranged to longitudinally cut lthe sods entering said guide, adepth regulating roller adjustably supported from said draft means infront of said shoe, a pair of rear Wheels supporting the rear end ofsaid guide, a spiral conveyer vertically arranged in said rear end andadapted to lift the earth therefrom, cutters on said conveyer adapted tocut the sods Y transversely, means for rotating said conveyer from saidrear Wheels, and means for guiding the earth lifted by said conveyeraway from the machine.

2; In a ditching machine, an upwardly inclined trough shaped guidehaving a digging shoeat-.its front end and closed lat its rear end,draft means therefor, a spiral conveyer vertically arranged in said rearend, vertically extending cutting knives carried by the lower part ofsaid conveyer and arranged between the axis of the conveyer and itsedge, andzmeans for rotating said conveyer.

Signed at Montreal, Quebec, Canada, this 7th day of January, 1914. I

f HENRY LEMATRE AUGER.

Witnesses M. 'PATENAUDE, C. PATENAUDE.

Commissioner of Patents.

Y Washington, D. 0;

